A girl's guide to life AFTER infertility and cancer

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Tag Archives: Tips for double mastectomy pre and post-op

This is going to be another quickie post. We still have fam in town and are keeping really busy! But I thought of two additional tidbits that I wanted to pass along in case you are reading this and are about to undergo a double mastectomy. BTW – before I give my tidbits, it’s worth noting that I’m not a doctor or specialist in any of this — I am just someone who is going through it and am finding a few things to be really helpful. So, this is just one girl’s perspective — it’s not gospel!

OK, so one thing we made sure to do the night before surgery was to measure the circumference of both of my upper arms. We did this so that during recovery and PT, we will know whether or not my arms are swelling and whether I’m at risk for lymphodema. Happy to report that my PT measured me yesterday, and I’m still the same as the night before surgery. YAY! I’ll take all small victories at this point!

Second thing — as you know, I’m still not allowed to shave my pits or wear deodorant (which is getting REALLY old). I don’t know how guys have so much armpit hair — it’s GROSS! Anyway, now that my drains are out, I don’t have to wear my softies anymore. I figured that I’d eventually graduate out of my softies, so prior to surgery, I bought two camisoles that I can easily step into. Turns out that two cami’s weren’t enough and I sure as heck don’t feel like doing laundry every other day! So I took to my own closet and discovered that I can step into some of my v-neck short sleeve T-shirts. Good news about being able to wear a short sleeve T is that it’s up against all that gross pit hair! It’s just more comfy and less itchy! My fave brand is from Nordstrom (or Nordie Rack) and it’s called Threads 4 Thought. Supa easy to get on without having to lift your arms overhead — and sustainable to boot!

Alrighty, I just wanted to get these thoughts out before I forgot them!

PS – Today is small business Saturday, so get out there, avoid all the bigbox retailers and support your local community!